


Harry Potter and the Art of Deception

by Sharingstories2



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Albus Dumbledore Bashing, Book 5: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Molly Weasley Bashing, Ron Weasley is a Good Friend
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-20
Updated: 2020-10-20
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:14:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 9,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27119398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sharingstories2/pseuds/Sharingstories2
Summary: He was the boy-who-lived he had it all but did he really. Set in the summer before the fifth year harry decided to show the world he isn't their puppet, even if it means exposing the liars and fakes along the way.
Relationships: Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Sirius Black & Harry Potter
Comments: 5
Kudos: 19





	1. PART 1

Harry sat staring at the wall, you could say he was moping but he's the great Harry Potter why on earth would he be moping?. Ah that's right his friends are being stubbornly distant, the ministry is trying to slander his good name and he was attacked by dementors. Then put on trial.

"Harry open the bloody door!" his "best mate" shouted.

"No, leave me alone, you seem pretty good at it Ronald" Ron shirked back and let Hermione try.

"Harry, you know Dumbledore-"

"Is controlling you, yes, yes I do" Hermione sighed. She wouldn't win this battle, not today. When they left Ginny came and took their place and she wasn't going to be so gentle, opening the door with magic she stormed in.

"Potter get your arse into gear, we're leaving" Harry looked up in shock. Out of everyone who could've interrupted him he never thought it would've been Ginny Weasley.

"Going where exactly?" he asked. Ginny smirked deviously.

"That's a surprise pothead" Harry laughed.

"Do you know what that means in the muggle world?" she shook her head and grinned.

"Dunno and don't care, now grab a coat, we're going on a field trip."

The field trip was defiantly not what Harry had expected, upon dragging harry through the front door they caught the night bus to the three broom sticks and walked into diagon alley. When Harry complained about the dangers of him being out in public Ginny whirled on him.

"You sound just like the order get a grip!" and harry didn't complain after that.

After the eventually arrived at their destination Harry smiled, it had been so long since he had been to Fortescue's ice cream shop. It had been even longer since he had seen Luna and Neville, who had joined the pair shortly after they arrived. Holding hands. Harry smirked and looked at Neville.

"So Nev, anything you wished to share?" Neville turned a beetroot colour.

"What kind of things do you want to know?" he asked. Harry nodded towards his and Luna's clasped hands. Luna stared at him dreamily.

"I think you know Harry Potter" she said. Harry laughed and dug into his ice cream, remarking on how lately he felt closer to these three than his best friends. When he was done he and Ginny bade goodbye to the others and began walking to gringgots. When they reached the lobby Ginny pulled out Harry's key.

"We'd like to speak Harry Potters account manager please" the Goblin looked at the key Ginny had given him and walked off, beckoning the teens to follow him. The goblin lead him to a Back room that had a setup very similar to a muggle solicitor's office. The Goblin looked up.

"Mr Potter, we've been expecting you, Miss Weasley if you would kindly step outside." Harry made a move to stop her.

"Sir, I know little of Goblin customs and the way the bank works, if at all possible I would like Ginny to stay. If only to make sure I don't offend you or dishonour your bank." The goblin looked up at the young wizard.

"Very well, if you insist." They sat down.

"Mr Potter, what may I do for you today?" Harry looked to Ginny, she had brought him here for a reason after all. Ginny smiled.

"Mr-"

"Gripshade"

"Mr Gripshade, I have spoken to Harry's godfather and we have reason to believe that Harry may have had money taken from his possession without his knowledge. We also have reason to believe that Harry may have more than just the potter blood running through his veins." Harry and Gripshade looked like they were going to blow a casket. Ginny sighed, she knew harry was very particular about the people whom he trusted and if she had told him beforehand he would've gone on a tirade. Gripshade grabbed his files.

"From our records the only people whom have had access to Harry's vaults are Dumbledore and Harry potter himself." Harry's interest piqued at Dumbledore's name.

"Sir why has Dumbledore been in my vaults?" Gripshade looked at harry blankly.

"You mean to say you had no idea that he had access to you vaults?" harry nodded and Ginny sighed.

"Gripshade, Dumbledore has Harry's key or he did, he gave it to harry so he may have made a duplicate but I thought only Harry's guardians had access to his vaults." Gripshade sighed.

"You see after Mr Black was sentenced he was written out as Harry's guardian, the others in the will were the longbottoms and since they were driven insane the ministry said that until the age of eleven Dumbledore would have access to your vaults, for your benefit only. After the age of eleven we began to send you invoices and you were meant to send in a note with your signature if you wanted Dumbledore to still have access to your vaults." Harry stared at the goblin in shock. He had never had any invoices or signed any letters. When he said so there was outrage. When asked Harry said he'd tell them under vertiaserum. After Gripshade found he was telling the truth he told Harry that he would tell Dumbledore he was doing a routine check on all his vaults and would ask for proof of what Harry's money was being spent on. Harry grinned at that. When they were done both he and Ginny took the knight bus to grimuald place where they both settled in Harry's room with Sirius.


	2. PART 2

In the weeks that passed Harry and Ginny grew closer, once she revealed to him that she understood where he came from. At first, he thought otherwise but when she explained the kind of things Voldemort had done to her, he realised just how alike they were. Alongside this Sirius had taken Harry aside and decided to train him. It wasn't the best training as Sirius himself was a little rusty, but Harry had learned more about the magical world. He learnt things that tinted his starry-eyed view of the castle that he once called home. He was in the middle of a lesson on ancient and noble families when Kreacher appeared.

"Master Sirius, the order is looking for Harry!" he said, respectfully. Harry who was now used to the fact that Kreacher and Sirius got along stared at the elf. He jumped up and Sirius vanished the desk and learning equipment's as Harry ran out the room,

He found the order in the dining room, attempting to act casual. The order turned to him  
"Hey" Harry said, Mrs Weasley wandered over to him  
"Harry, where have you been!" she exclaimed. Harry shrugged, nonchalant  
"I was with Sirius, he was telling me stories about my parents and helping me with homework"

"Homework!" Ron exclaimed. Harry nodded  
"I know I don't usually do it till the night before, but I figured I should probably get a head start, considering its our OWL year and with Voldemort and what not I probably won't have much time to catch up if I fall behind." At his reasoning Hermione's face lit up whilst everyone else looked to him in concern. Arthur placed a hand on Harrys shoulder.  
"Harry, son you really shouldn't worry about he-who-must-not-be-named, that's what the order is for" Harry wanted to ease Arthurs mind, out of everyone in the order Arthur was someone that Harry truly respected but he just couldn't.  
"With all due respect Mr Weasley you're not the person whose blood helped him rise again, nor are you someone who Voldemort has attacked on five different occasions, I'm not saying that I'm going to go and hunt him down, I'm just saying he'll probably try to hurt me again." Arthur looked resigned. He was happy Harry wasn't on a warpath, but he still wanted Harry to live a normal life.

Mrs Weasley however turned red  
"Harry, has Sirius said something to you about Voldemort?" she seethed. Harry bristled, why did she hate Sirius so much. She did have a point, Sirius had told both he and Ginny about the prophecy, or what he knew about it. Harry couldn't let them know that though.   
"No Mrs Weasley" he said. She looked at him, as if trying to read his soul.  
"I don't think you should be spending so much time with Sirius, he isn't the best influence" Harry wanted to scream at her that, that was unfair and that she shouldn't judge him but didn't. He instead looked her dead in the eye and said  
"I understand your concern Mrs Weasley, Sirius is my godfather however and I can learn thing about my parents from him, you surely don't expect me to miss out on the opportunity to learn about them, do you?" Harry's eyes turned sad and Mrs Weasley melted. She held her arms out and brought Harry into a hug.  
"Oh you poor child, of course, I didn't think about it like that, I'm sorry" Harry hugged her back.  
"It's okay" she then let him go. Harry's eyes skated over the rooms inhabitants, he skimmed past Ginny who was holding in laughter before landing them back on Mrs Weasley.  
"I'm just going to go and prepare for my hearing, Hermione leant me some books on wizard law, I know Dumbledore has something planned but I want to be prepared as best as I can" he then turned and left the adult staring at his retreating figure.

Ginny found him in his room, knee deep in books. She snickered  
"You should know mum is crying at how proud she is of you" Harry looked up at the girl and grinned.  
"Better than yelling at me about Sirius" he quipped.   
"I'd like to say she only does that because she cared but I think we all know whose influencing her." Harry looked down, he like Ginny's mother, he really, really did but the women held too much stock in the aged headmaster for Harry to trust her. Harry said nothing back to Ginny as she grabbed a book herself and began to read. An hour later found them both a quarter of the way through the books they were meant to be reading. Harry sighed  
"Any luck on finding Dobby?" he asked. Ginny shook her head  
"Any luck on getting in contact with Bones?" Harry shook her head  
"No she's on carers leave, Susan is sick. Her replacement is a true Fudge supporter so no luck there"  
"We'll figure this out Harry" she reassured him. Harry sighed, he wanted to believe her but he knew that the ministry wouldn't give him a fair trial.  
"I wish Dudley was magical so we could place him under vertiasirum" Ginny laughed  
"Yeah, imagine all the secrets we could make him spill" Harry grinned.  
"Oh I'd make his life hell" he cackled, Ginny laughed and together they both broke into hysterics. When they sobered up Harry frowned  
"What happened if I get expelled Ginny? I may not lie Dumbledore anymore, but Hogwarts was the first home I ever had. Magic is my escape... I don't want to lose it." Ginny pulled him into a hug  
"If it comes to that we'll run"  
"We?" he asked. Ginny laughed  
"Of course Harry, I know you haven't seen me as a friend for a long time but when I started on my quest to make you aware of those in your life manipulating you I made a promise to myself. I made the promise that I would stand by you come rain or shine, come fight and peace." Harry grinned, Ginny was fastly becoming his best friend and he knew that without her his life would be drastically different. He would still be a slave to Dumbledore and unaware of the true beauty of the magical world. He kissed her cheek.  
"I'll forever be glad we're friends Gin" Ginny grinned  
"Right enough sappiness, lets save your sorry arse" and then they dived back into the books.


	3. PART 3

For the next two weeks Harry found himself dodging the people he once called his best friends. It was petty he knew but he didn't know if he could trust him. They had alienated him all summer and were one hundred percent in Dumbledore's pocket. In fact, his plan was just to avoid them and when asked play it off as teenage angst. Ginny had made a valid point against this however. In order for their plan to work Harry needs to be friends with Ron and Hermione. As such Harry found himself in his bedroom as his best friends apologised to him again. Harry shrugged  
"It's okay, I was just angry, but I understand why you did it" they visibly relaxed at his acceptance of their apology. Hermione pulled him into a hug  
"For the record we didn't agree with it but when Dumbledore asks you to do something... you know how it is." Yes, he did know, he knew all too well. Harry pulled away  
"Yeah" Ron glanced around at the books that littered the bedroom floor.  
"Mate, when did you turn into Hermione?" he asked. Hermione smacked him, and Harry laughed  
"I want to be prepared Ron, the trial is next week, and you know I wasn't raised as a wizard. Sirius made me realise being ignorant of wizarding law can be just as detrimental as not turning up to my trial at all." Hermione beamed at him.  
"Oh my, Sirius really is showing his true colours!" she complimented. Harry grinned, he had planted the seed of doubt in Hermione's head, now to exploit it.  
"Yeah, he's not really as bad as people make him out to be. He's really helped me out a lot this summer, I felt alienated and he let me. He showed me my parents photo albums and pictures of me as a kid. He also made sure I did my homework, it seems like he's really trying to step up as my godfather... you know it's kind of nice." Hermione nearly cried, it seemed she had misjudged the older man. It seemed she had misjudged Harry even more, he didn't want to hang around Sirius because he was cool and dangerous but because this man had shown love. She put a hand on his shoulder  
"You know, I'm happy for you Harry, you should be able to talk about your parents" Harry nodded as Ron scoffed.  
"Yeah but he's still completely barmy" Harry glared at him.  
"You would be too if you spent thirteen years around dementors, I spend five minutes around them and I'd go insane. Sirius is strong" Ron held his hands up   
"Sorry mate" Harry scowled  
"Yeah, well if that's all I'm off to finish preparing" then he stormed out the room. Hermione turned to Ron  
"Well done Ronald!" she growled. Ron looked at her confused.  
"What?"  
"We're supposed to be winning back his trust, not annoying him." then she too left Ron behind.

Before Harry knew it, it was the day of the trial. He had sent Arthur to buy him a suit from Diagon Alley, which he now wore. He entered Ginny's room, the girl chuckled  
"Don't you look dapper!" Harry blushed, he knew the suit was a but excessive, but he wasn't going to go to the trial in scrubs. He looked up as Ginny fixed his tie.  
"Is everything in place?" he asked. Ginny nodded and gulped, she really hoped that their plan would work. If it didn't Harry would lose everything, and he had already lost so much.   
"Harry" she started, her deep woeful eyes staring into his bright green ones.   
"I know" he said before kissing her forehead and walking away.

The ministry was a grand place, great sculptures stood glistening in the light which awed Harry, but he couldn't focus on them at the time. Instead he focused on the task at hand, after handing in his wand he followed Mr Weasley to the lift. At this point they were intercepted by a wizard who told them that the time and venue of his hearing had changed. This had sent both Harry and Mr Weasley sprinting towards the department of mysteries. Aurors came running towards the pair, to escort Harry to his hearing. Arthur turned to the boy  
"This is where I leave you Harry" he whispered, Harry nodded and shook Mr Weasleys hand  
"Whatever happens today, I'm glad I met you" and the Harry turned and marched into the lion's den, leaving Mr Weasley praying that he'd be okay.


	4. PART 4

To say Harry was nervous would be an understatement, he was terrified. The amount of people in the room was overwhelming and he knew that every one of them wanted to see him drown. Harry had no intention of drowning however and held his head high, marching towards his seat. After a moment, Fudge banged his gavel.   
"Order in the court, I hereby call this hearing to order, for the record please state your full name and date of birth" he said to Harry. Harry took a deep breath  
"Harry James Potter, 31st July 1980" he said. Fudge then turned a toad-like woman to his left  
"And the charges?" he asked. The toad like woman coughed and opened a folder  
"One count of underage magic, one count of breaking the statue of secrecy and count of magic with the intent to harm a muggle" Harry held back a scoff at the last charge, he should have known they would play him as a villain, Harry held his tongue as the court produced evidence against Harry. Harry just waited, cringing at the stupidness of it all. When it came to his turn to defend his actions he stood up, dusted himself down and stared the court in the eyes.  
"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I am sure you have heard many stories about me, ranging from being a saint to as being as bad as Voldemort himself" he smiled as people gasped.   
"I beg of you however to listen to what I have to say and not judge me based on what other have said about me." He pointed to Fudge  
"As our esteemed prime minister has pointed out, I do not get along with my family and I am sure my friends will collaborate that to. I, however do love them, why else would I go back every year? I look at the evidence before me and I am skeptical, how do you have proof of what I did? I am not denying the use of a Patronus, it is clear as day that yes, indeed I did produce magic on the night in question, why you ask? well it's simply because I was under attack by a Dementor." At his declaration the crowd erupted. Some called him a liar and a coward whilst other looked confused. Judge glared at the boy as he quieted the crowds, when they stopped yelling he turned attention to the fifteen-year-old.   
"What you are saying is preposterous, the dementors are under the ministry's control"  
"Oh please, you're not even under the ministry's control Prime minister." Fudge roared  
"I AM THE MINISTRY" Harry laughed at him.   
"Oh, come on prime minister we all know whose lining your pockets and its certainly not for anything good, an ex-death eater lining the pockets so that you'll turn the other way isn't exactly the best image of our ministry is it." Harry grinned at the look on everyone's faces, somewhere red with anger and indignation at what he was suggesting, others were finally opening their eyes to the truth.   
"This is not about me, this is about you pleading guilty to a crime and since you can produce no witness stating that it was in self-defense then I think it is time to sentence you." Harry laughed even louder at this.  
"I do actually, may I please produce my first witness, Arabella Fig" Fudge glared  
"We need to cross examine the witness Mr. Potter, a witness which was not produced in the preliminary hearing."  
"How exactly was I meant to tell you I was bringing a witness? when I was charged I was never given a lawyer." Fudge sighed  
"Wizards usually represent themselves Mr. Potter"  
"How was I meant to know that Mr. Fudge, I grew up in a muggle household. In fact, this whole thing is a farce, I was never offered any help in getting to the ministry, a place I have never been. I was never told if I could have a lawyer, as an underage wizard I should have some form of legal representation. What else is a farce is the fact that my trail was changed at last minute, if it wasn't for some kind worker telling me I would never have known, no doubt a move to discredit me, how about the fact that my trail is held in the department of mysteries. A place reserved for murders and rapists. You are breaking the law holding my hearing here as underage wizards are not allowed in the department of mysteries Fudge" at this there was more out roar and women Harry recognized as Amelia Bones stood up.  
"ENOUGH, Mr. Potter, we shall cross examine the witness during our break, court is dismissed until the morning. Harry I'm afraid you will have to be detained in one of our lower cells, due to your effect to dementors we will not be placing you in Azkaban, instead we will place you in the Auror holding cells." Harry nodded and said nothing as he was frog marched out of the room, past a worried looking Mr. Weasley, a furious Dumbledore and a confused looking Percy.

As he fell asleep that night he planned a battle strategy in his head, if his plan worked, he'd have a vote of no confidence for Fudge, a vote of confidence from the public and will be free from all charges brought against him.


	5. PART 5

Harry liked to believe that he could follow his plan but as he woke up the next morning he wasn't so sure. He was tired when he woke up and he felt weaker than he did the night before. He supposed being woke up every two hours to make sure he was still alive would have something to do with it.

He woke up slightly bleary eyed, he found Tonks stood over him.   
"Get up Mr Potter, I'm here to escort you to the showers" Harry blinked confused before realising she was on auror duty. He stood up, slightly unsteady.  
"Erm, of course"  
"Please follow me" and so he followed her. He followed her out of his cell and across the bullpen where aurors stared at him. Some in concern and some in surprise. Harry ignored them and followed Tonks into a room at the far end of the bullpen. Once she was in there Tonks unshackled Harry's wrists and turned to look him in the eyes.  
"On the bench next to the locker is a spare set of clothes, you have ten minuets to get changed and dressed or I'll come in and drag you half naked in front of the aurors" Harry nodded, meekly. He was slightly scared at the way Tonks was acting, she wasn't the clumsy, cheerful girl he was used to.

When she left he jumped under the hot water to try and soothe his nevres, once again running over the plan. After five minuets he switched off the hot water and got changed into the clothes left for him. A crisp, white shirt and black pants, blazer and shoes. When he was changed he ran his fingers through his hair before opening the door.

For the next fifteen minuets he followed Tonks in silence until they once again reached the departments of mysteries. She turned to look at him  
"Good luck Harry"  
"Thank you" ans then Tonks held out her hand to shake Harrys hand, confused Harry shook her hand only to find something in his hand when he pulled away. Tonks then handed Harry over to two burly men who pushed him into the room.

It took a while for things to gt started as the jury were reminded of the events of the previous day. Harry nodded along to Fudge, when he announced that Harry's witness was allowed in the court Harry sat up straight as in walked Arabella Figg. Fudge banged his gravel to silence the court,  
"Silence! The witness has been cross examined and found sound of mind." He them replayed the events of the previous day to refresh everyone's memories. He then turned to Arabella  
"Miss Figg, you have been called to testify about the night in question, please tell us you're account of the events. "

The elderly women wrung her hands and began her story.  
"Well you see it started off as a normal evening but suddenly everything went cold and it felt... it felt like all the happiness had gone from the world. I heard a shout and decided to go and see who it was, i may be a squib sir but i couldn't leave a muggle defenceless. When i got there there was a dementor, he was trying to kiss Dudley but Harry Potter fought him off, so you see if he had done nothing a muggle would be dead now." The room went quiet, Harry smirked. Nobody knew quite what to say as it seemed Harry was indeed wrongly charged. 

Miss Bones decided enough was enough and stood up to address the court.   
"The court have removed the memories of this even from Mrs Figg and it seems that she is telling the truth. As this is the case we shall take a vote, all in favour of dropping all charges against Harry Potter say aye" the vote was unanimous, nobody thought the teen deserved to be charged. 

"In that case on behalf of the ministry we offer our sincerest apologies Mister Potter and as our penance for this grave mistake we offer you the sum of 6 thousand Galleons and a public statement made by the minister himself will be made addressing the public on this miscarriage of justice." Harry smirked, now the ball was in his court.

"Madam Bones that is very generous indeed but if i may can i offer an alternative?" Bones shrugged, anything to keep the Potters power from crumbling the ministry.

"I an very grateful that you wish to pay for the miscarriage of justice upon me but i do not need the money, you can give it to charity if you wish. What i do desire is the banishment of the dementors, regardless of whether you believe my claims about Voldemorts return the dementors are clearly not under ministry control" at his proclamation Fudge turned a nasty shade of purple.

"Now you listen here Potter, we control the dementors we always have, how dare you question us in such a way!" 

"With all due respect if you had control then a dementor would not have tried to kill my cousin sir." Fudge turned an even deeper shade of purple but before he could retaliate Bones relied for him.

"Mister Potter, we can not get rid of the dementors without the required talks ad passing of legislation, we will however be having those talk as this has been a serious breach of our contract with the Dementors. In regards to the money we will distribute it over charities of your choice. As of now i formally declare you free of all charges" Harry nodded in thanks and as he turned to leave the court behind he breathed a sigh of relive. It had worked, he was free.


	6. PART 6

The media frenzy that followed Harry's release was astronomical. When he was being blasted for underage magic he could walk the streets whilst people glared at him. Now however people swarmed him, telling him they believed in him all along. It didn't get any better when school finally started either. All Harry wanted to do was spend his final weeks at home with Sirius and Ginny, but it seemed impossible. If it wasn't his 'best friends' mithering him it was the order clearly trying to keep things from him. Then, oh then when he entered the Hogwarts express it was children telling him that he now owned the ministry. It was ridiculous! Just last year these people were calling for his blood. They called him a liar who only wanted attention and blamed him for Cedrics passing. It was funny how fickle peoples minds truly were.

His only saving grace was Ginny, she had locked them both in a compartment with Luna and Neville. Harry was happy to say that sitting with them was rather pleasant. It was strange, he had known Neville since he was eleven, but the train ride was the first time he had truly gotten to know him. He wasn't just a boy who loved plants, he was actually rather intelligent. On the ride he also got to know Luna, whilst she seemed weird at first she grew on him. Luna was the only person Harry could remember meeting that never once looked at his scar or did a double take at his name. It was rather refreshing.

When they arrived at Hogwarts Harry felt sad, sure he missed the castle, but he was rather enjoying his conversation with his newfound friends.

Once he reached Hogwarts he bade goodbye to Luna who wondered over to the Ravenclaw table and he sat beside Ginny and Neville. Not a moment later Hermione and Ron came over and Neville got up.  
"Neville where are you going?" Harry asked. Neville looked down  
"It's just... you always sit with Ron and Hermione... I just thought you would want to sit with them is all" Harry's breath was caught in his throat.  
"Neville if I were going to sit with them I would move. Never would I get you to move that's just cruel besides there is room opposite us..." Neville gulped and sat down. Ron and Hermione smiled and sat across from them.  
"How was prefect duty?" Harry asked. Hermione grinned whilst Ron scowled.  
"Awful, you'll never guess whose been made Slytherin prefect!" he growled. Harry chuckled  
"Malfoy?"  
"Malfoy! Of all the slimy disgusting people in Slytherin they had to choose him!" Ron complained. Harry rolled his eyes.  
"Slytherin aren't slimy or disgusting Ron, it's a house. They're ambitious it's what they do besides like anyone other than Malfoy would have made the cut. He's got high grades, does quidditch and his dads buddies with Snape." Harry didn't look up, but he could feel Ron, Hermione, and Neville shocked expressions.   
"You're... defending Slytherins" Hermione asked. Harry shook his head  
"No... I'm just sick of all the fighting. I don't get it. Look there are more important things going on and besides over the summer Padfoot made me realise what's really important. School and staying alive. For the past four years I haven't been able to learn much due to you know nearly dying every year. I think it's time I changed that" the silence that followed his speech was deafening. That was until a squeal interrupted the blanket of silence.  
"Oh Harry I am so, so proud of you! It seems like padfoot really is stepping up" Harry laughed at her enthusiasm. Ron meanwhile glared at Harry and then to Ginny.  
"What have you done to my best friend?" Ginny simply smiled.  
"I showed him the error of his ways" at this Harry scoffed.  
"Oh please like you pay any attention in school" Ginny narrowed her eyes at the boy.  
"Wanna bet Potter, I bet that by the end of term I'll have higher grades than you"  
"Yeah only because fourth year is easy"  
"Didn't seem easy when you failed potions"  
"Yeah... cause Snape hates me."   
"Snape hates everyone!"   
"Touché... if that's how you want to play it Weasley you are on!." The two then shook on it whilst Neville laughed.  
"So when did you two get together?" he asked. Ron's eyes widened and he spit out his drink.   
"WhAt?!" he yelled. Harry and Ginny who were now covered in Ron's spit and pumpkin juice wiped their faces.  
"Oh please, I wouldn't touch Harry with a ten-foot pole" Ginny spat. Harry laughed  
"Says the girl who was so nervous she couldn't talk to me" Harry said. Ginny sent daggers at him  
"No, I was nervous to talk to the boy who lived, who, by the way won't be living much longer if he carries on!" she seethed. Harry held his hands up in mock surrender.  
"Okay Ginny just remember at one point you thought I was a divine hero" Ginny groaned. Over the summer the two had become close and as such had opened up to each other. Which included Ginny's embarrassing rendition of poetry. She never dared tell him that Riddle helped her write it, however.

Hermione stared at the two in interest, yes it was true they had become close over summer, but she never realised just how close. It was nice to see Harry smile, truly smile. She hadn't seen his smile in a while, as she turned to Ron however she saw that he was ready to blow a casket. Residing she placed a hand on his arm, he turned to her puzzled.  
"Let them have this Ron..." she whispered.  
"But"  
"No... we all know dark times are coming. Let him have a little fun before it does" she pleaded. Ron's shoulders slumped as he took in what she said. He didn't like watching his best friend and little sister 'flirt', but he supposed yelling at them wouldn't accomplish anything. Hermione was right; Harry was going to face a long narrow road soon enough. If being friends with Ginny helped him with that then Ron would have to silently let them be friends. He had done enough damage to his friendship last year as it was and after having a talk with his mother over summer he realised the best thing he could do for Harry was to support him, however if Ginny and Harry started dating there would be hell to pay.


	7. PART 7

As it turns out dark times approached faster than they anticipated. Dark times by the name of Dolores Umbridge. Harry didn't really hate many people, not even Voldemort. He disliked a lot of people sure but other than Wormtail he never really, truly hated anyone. That was until a toad of a witch entered the defence against the dark arts classroom. That was until she told students they didn't need to learn practical work if they studied the theory hard enough. Of course, Harry knew why Umbridge was at the school, Hermione had explained it easy enough. Hell, even Sirius had explained it to Harry through letters. He had also told Harry to keep his head down and not to do anything rash. Which in Harrys opinion was very hypocritical, he did as he was told however until one lesson. One lesson that changed everything. The fifth years had of course gone inside the classroom and sat down. It was time that they learned about the unforgivable, at least the aftereffects of the unforgivable. Harry didn't care much for the lesson as Mad Eye had taught them last year. What he did care about however was the fact she had zeroed in on Neville.  
"Mr Longbottom, you out of everyone know the dangers of the cruciatus curse. Would you like to share it with the class?" she asked sweetly. Neville tensed as a few of the class looked at him in confusion. Whilst the reason Bellatrix Lestrange went to prison was common knowledge. It wasn't common for people to know who exactly she tormented into insanity.  
"Come on dear, don't be shy" Umbridge prompted. Neville began to shake  
"I do not know what you mean professor" he spat back. Harry looked at Hermione who understood why Neville looked like he was ready to burst.  
"In a minute take Neville out of here" he said. Hermione nodded.   
"Mr Potter, is there something you would like to share with the class?" Umbridge asked. Harry grinned at her  
"Yes actually, I was just wondering if you were going to try and kill me" the class looked to him stunned. Umbridge paled  
"What?" Harry stood up and nodded to Hermione who snook behind Harry to Neville. Harry began walking to the teacher and grinned.  
"Well you see, every year a DADA teacher decides it's their civic duty to try and attack me. So, I was just wondering if you were going to kill me. You know, just so that I can be prepared" he asked, sarcasm practically dripping off his tongue. Umbridge merely glared at him  
"I am not going to attack you Mr Potter" she squalled. Harry guffawed  
"Well you've already killed me with these boring lessons, I wonder if I can get you sacked for that" Harry said allowed as he placed a hand on his chin and pretended to think. Umbridge turned a vicious shade of red.  
"That's it Mr Potter, detention" she growled. Harry shrugged  
"Detention with a bully, oh it'll be like every detention I've ever had with snape" then before Umbridge could so much as blink Harry grabbed his wand and left the classroom.

A few hours later found Harry sat across from McGonagall. The older woman tried hiding her amusement at the situation. Never in all her years of teaching had she met a child quite as attention hogging as Harry Potter and she had taught his parents and Sirius. The difference is Harry didn't like the attention so why on earth he had stood up to Umbridge was anyone's guess.  
"Mr Potter... what on earth possessed you to disrespect another teacher that way? I have never seen you act so rude." Harry shrugged  
"With all due respect she started it Professor. She was teaching us about the Cruciatus Curse and its aftereffects whilst specifically targeting Neville. Forgive me professor I wasn't about to let Neville be spoken to like that regardless of who said it. I may have gone a bit overboard I know I just... I'll apologise to her tomorrow" he concluded. McGonagall looked over her glasses to stare at the boy. Dumbledore had informed the order that he was not allowed to know anything. That he was still healing from Cedrics death but as she stared at the boy in front of her that didn't seem the case. Yes, he was obviously torn up about what had happened, but he seemed to have come back stronger. She knew he was beginning to excel in most of his classes and was beginning to more tolerable of others. It was strange, she didn't know whether to be proud or concerned. Nether the less she smiled at him sadly  
"Unfortunately Professor Umbridge had declared for you to do a weeks' worth of detention with her" she half expected him to argue but once again the boy shrugged.  
"That's fair enough I guess" McGonagall stared at him again. Who was he and what had he done with Harry Potter?.   
"Harry.." she began as he tensed up.  
"Yeah?"  
"I just want to let you know that I'm proud of you for finally taking your studies seriously. I'll write a letter to Sirius telling him how well you are doing" Harry beamed  
"Thanks professor"  
"It's okay. Now I suggest you get to the Great Hall. Your friends must be wondering where you are" Harry smiled at her again before walking away.

The Professor sighed, it seemed that whilst the order was busy Sirius had indeed decided to step up as Harrys god father. She had never seen the boy so relaxed; it was nice. Still, Harry did have a point about teachers trying to kill him. McGonagall would have to keep a trained eye on Professor Umbridge. Harry would finish the year safe if it killed her.


	8. PART 8

When Harry got back to the Common Room it was late. He had assumed that most people would be in bed as it was way past curfew. He should have known however that someone would be up, he just expected it to be his best friends. Not Neville and Ginny. He looked around the room nonchalant as Ginny accosted him.  
“What they hell Harry, what the hell?” Ginny asked. Harry shrugged meekly but before Ginny could berate him for getting in trouble Neville spoke.   
“How did you know?” he asked. Harry looked to him, confused at first until realisation dawned on him. He placed a hand on Neville’s shoulder  
“Someone told me.”  
“They had no right to tell you that!” Neville seethed. He wrenched his shoulder away from Harry and began to fume.  
“Nobody has the right to tell people other than me!” he yelled. Ginny stared at Neville like he had grown a third head. She had never seen Neville angry before. Harry merely smiled sadly  
“You’re right, they didn’t, and I understand why you’re mad. What happened is a family affair, the world doesn’t need to know. If it helps I’m the only one that does…” Neville stared at Harry as if trying to assess what to do next before he dropped his shoulders and sighed.  
“I’m not happy about it but… thank you for taking the attention off me. I hope you didn’t get into too much trouble.” Harry chortled silently and threw an arm around Neville's shoulders.  
“Neville, when am I ever not in trouble?” he asked. Neville rolled his eyes and shook his head residing.  
“You know Harry I do wonder that myself sometimes,” Neville admitted. He then detached himself from Harry’s arm  
“Look… I appreciate what you did but you didn’t need to. I’m not as weak as people think” Ginny stared at Neville with newfound appreciation whilst Harry frowned.   
“Nev… I didn’t do it because I thought you were weak. I did it because I know what it’s like to be unfairly prosecuted, I figured I could save you from it.” His words hung in the air and Neville seemed to realise he was being genuine.   
“You know Harry… you’re right. I don’t know if my support means anything but for what it’s worth I believe you about you-know-who”  
“Call him Voldemort, it pisses him off. Sure, be scared of him but not the name, that’s what gives him power” Harry explained. Neville rolled his eyes  
“I’ll work on it but for now I’m going to bed. You two should too, Ron will blow his lid if you two are caught alone” and then the boy turned up the stairs into the dormitories.   
Harry turned to Ginny and before she had the chance to ask he explained everything to her, the more he talked the angrier she got. When he finished she was seething  
“What a bitch! No wonder Neville is so upset!” she yelped. Harry merely shrugged  
“Neville will be fine Gin… trust me the boys got thick skin” whilst Harry may not necessarily believe that he also didn’t want Ginny to mollycoddle Neville. The boy's pride was already damaged enough. Ginny ran a hand through her hair  
“So the plan to stay away from drama isn’t working?” she asked. Harry snorted  
“Ginny if we do what Sirius wants I was never staying away from the drama was I?” Harry asked. Ginny rolled her eyes.  
“You never told him if you were going to follow his plan” Ginny reminded him  
“It’s a good plan… I just don’t know if I’m the right person to carry it out. The other houses might be receptive but... I don’t know how the Slytherins will react.” Although it pained Harry to admit it he really didn’t think Slytherins were all that bad. Sure, they could seem arrogant but after talking to Sirius Harry realised that the house never stood a chance. Nobody saw the good in Slytherins and because of that, they weren’t going to be good. Ginny took his lack of silence for defiance  
“Look… next week we’re going to Gringotts to get the results. If they’re as bad as we think it can’t hurt to have the Slytherins on our side can it?” Harry sighed.  
“We’ll see, for now, I have to get through detention!”  
“You love in detention, how bad can it possibly be?.”

As it turned out very, very bad. Once Harry entered the office he knew something bad was going to happen as she smiled at him. Not in the month, she had worked there had the toad smiled. Harry nodded at her and smiled, he wouldn’t give her any kind of satisfaction. As he sat down he glanced at the quill she had given me.  
“Excuse me, professor… there is no ink?” he said. The toad merely grinned at him  
“Oh do not worry Mr Potter. This quill does not need ink.” She sweetly explained, Harry should have known then that something was amiss, wizards were practically in the dark ages. There was no way that they knew how to write without a quill and ink.   
“Well in that case what would you like me to write?” he asked. Umbridge contemplated his question for a moment before breaking out into a grin.  
“I must not tell lies should suffice I think” Harry ground his teeth. He knew telling people Voldemort was alive would come back to bite him. Still, the boy did as he was asked, not a moment later he could feel a searing hot pain in his hand. He clenched it to try and stop the pain, but it did no good, the more he wrote the worse the pain got. It took him a good few minutes to figure out he was writing in his own blood and when he did he looked up to see Umbridge's smug face.  
“Problem Mr Potter?” she asked. Harry bared his teeth, oh yes there was a problem, a big one. Once again his defence against the dark arts teacher was insane. Instead of saying that however, Harry bit his tongue.  
“Not at all professor, just wondering how many lines you required” he nearly laughed at her shocked face. She certainly wasn’t expecting that, still, she quickly regained her composure  
“Let's just say however long it takes for the message to… sink in”  
“If you insist” and then Harry carried on writing feeling slightly victorious. He would not give the witch any kind of satisfaction, besides, it would not be the first time an adult had purposely hurt him.


	9. PART 9

As the week went on his detentions gradually grew more painful. Due to the blood quill Harry had started being even more defiant. It was stupid he knew but it was the only control he had. His friends had all told him to keep his head down, but he knew if he did Umbridge would win.  
Somehow he had managed to keep his secret from his friends, well kind of. Luna had said something about the Wrack spurts and gobbles in his brain. Apparently they told Luna that Harry was experiencing a dark time. He had silently chuckled and told Luna he had been through a lot and maybe that was what they were telling her. Nobody said anything and Luna seemed to accept his explanation. So, yeah he thought he had done a good job. That was until he entered Gringotts. It was the first Hogsmeade visit of the year and surprisingly he hadn’t got detention. Hermione and Ron went to the village with Harry, but Harry quickly told them he needed to go to Gringotts to discuss something personal. They offered to go with him, but Harry politely declined, saying it was to do with his parents. The pair were shocked but agreed to leave him to it.   
When he got to Gringotts he found Ginny, she had her hood up to cover her face. He grinned at her and walked over to the desk.  
“Excuse me, I was wondering if Mr Gripshade is available?” Harry asked politely. The goblin in front of him looked up and harry did a double take. It was the same Goblin that he met in his first year.   
“Oh, You’re Griphook!” he said. Griphook looked at Harry surprised, nobody had ever remembered his name before.  
“I am indeed, I must say Mr Potter it is a surprise you remember my face let alone my name” Griphook admitted. Harry frowned  
“I will admit that sometimes I can be very negligent of names. You however where the first Goblin I had ever met, and I would be amiss not to mention very rude to forget such an occasion.” He could feel Ginny grinning at him under her cloak. It seemed that the lessons Sirius were paying off. Griphook looked behind Harry and a small smile graced his face  
“Is Miss Weasley accompanying you in your meeting?” Harry tried to school his face into a neutral expression but failed. He choked out a yes and together the pair followed Griphook into the back of the bank. They passed the tellers and the entrance to the vaults and walked down a narrow winding corridor. Harry was shocked, he never realised how big Gringotts was. When he told Ginny, she chuckled  
“Harry Gringotts is first and foremost a bank. Where do you think people go to have meetings about their accounts? The front desk?” Harry frowned, slightly embarrassed. He supposed she had a point, even muggle banks had meeting rooms.  
After ten minuets they reached a door. Griphook knocked thrice and waited for an answer. When a voice called out Griphook opened the door.  
“Mister Potter and his associate are here to see you sir!” Gripshade grinned. He welcomed in the pair and thanked Griphook who left.  
“Now Mister Potter I must first ask if you are okay with Miss Weasley learning intimate details about your family tree. We can of course make an unbreakable vow that the information will not leave this room if you wish?” Harry looked between the goblin and Ginny. He didn’t know what an unbreakable Vow was, but it sounded severe. The teen took a deep breath  
“I don’t think that will me necessary. I trust Ginny with my life Sir Gripshade” the goblin grinned and pushed his glasses further up his face.   
“Well if that’s the case, I think we best get to it” the goblin then clapped his hands together like he was getting ready to gamble. He wandered over to the oak drawers next to his desk and pulled out a file.  
“Now Mister Potter I will admit when that when looking into both your finances and family history I was quite shocked. I am not sure if you were aware that whilst the Potters where wealthy they weren’t from what we call ‘old money’” Harry nodded whilst Ginny gasped.  
“What do you mean sir? The potters were one of the oldest wizarding families alive weren’t they?” she asked. Harry stared at her, perplexed. Gripshade merely sat down.  
“I am afraid not Miss Weasley. You see since the Potters are the wealthiest family lines in England they aren’t old like say the Malfoys. The Malfoys have been around since Merlin himself. The Potters only became prominent in 1706. This is when Mister Potters relative invented the self-cleaning Broom. This put the Potters on the map so to speak. The Evans family however are older than even Merlin himself.” Harry chocked, his other was muggleborns. When he said so Gripshade smiled sadly  
“Yes your mother thought she was muggle born but she is actually descended from a long line of squibs. In fact, the Evans family were friends with the Founders Four. Shortly after the completion of Hogwarts however the Evans line dropped off the face of Wizarding history. Well I should say they changed their names. Mister Potter before they were Evans they were Peverell’s, I assume you know the story of the Hallows?” Harry shook his head. Ginny then launched into an explanation about the deathly hallows and the Peverell brothers. How the first one was greedy and combative and was claimed by death in the end. How the second brother wished for love so much it killed him and the third hid from death till he was ready to greet him like an old friend. It was an old wives tale she said whilst Harry stared at her blankly.   
It took everything in Harry to not laugh. Of course, everything he was ever taught about his family was wrong, nothing in his life was ever true was it.  
“So I’m related to the Peverell and my mum wasn’t actually Muggle born?” he asked. Gripshade nodded  
“We also delved into the matter of Albus Dumbledore. It turns out that he was indeed siphoning money from your trust account. It seemed to be going into the Hogwarts Vault.” Harry’s shoulders dropped. He had really hoped Sirius was wrong about that, he didn’t want his headmaster to be a thief.   
“Now there are a number of things we can do Mister Potter. We can order an arrest via the Ministry and when that undoubtedly falls through we can order a Goblin arrest. This means that we go to the board of Gringotts and order an arrest under act 47 of the Goblin treaty act. He would then be taken into custody. He would not be sent to Azkaban, rather he will be sent to the Goblin mining camps in Peru. That is what we do with our prisoner. The other option is that we shut of his access, claiming that we need your signature in person as a safety procedure.” Harry heaved a deep sigh; this is not what he wanted to do today. Sluggishly he chose the second option. He didn’t like Dumbledore, but he didn’t want the headmaster being treated as forced labour.  
As Harry got up to leave Gripshade stopped him. He placed down a piece of paper and began to explain that they had found a dark presence in Harry. That his body was being shared with another. It was called a Horcrux, at this Ginny looked like she was going to be sick. She stared at harry, her face void of colour.  
“Please tell me you haven’t been hearing voices Harry” suddenly harry was thrust back into second year when Hermione told him even the wizarding world frowned upon hearing voices. He also remembered that was the year Ginny was taken and she too had been hearing voices. He wanted to deny it, but he couldn’t.  
“Not voices per say… more like flashes. I got them a lot in summer. It was like I could see Voldemort, but I was looking through someone else’s eyes. I never said anything because it was starting to go away… well until detention started.” Ginny’s eyes shone with questions; questions Harry didn’t want to answer. He didn’t have to as Gripshade spoke to him, his voice soft. Like he was talking to a baby.  
“Mister Potter… what is happening is wrong. We are cruel by Wizarding standards but even we wouldn’t have a child write in their own blood.” He then waved his hand over Harry’s and his scar became visible. Ginny grabbed his hand.  
“No, we need to tell Sirius” she breathed. Harry sighed, bringing his hand to his chest.  
“I’ve got this Gin..”  
“Harry you don’t understand it. Blood magic is banned for a reason, once you have someone’s blood you can become them. It is the strongest kind of magic and the weakest, if she has enough blood she can bypass even Gringotts security and be you.” Harry looked down, ashamed.  
“What do you want me to do?”  
“Well stop being so stubborn for one. I want you to tell Sirius and then we can discuss what to do. Then once Sirius knows everything we can find away to get rid of Umbitch and the piece of soul in you” she left little room for argument and Harry reluctantly agreed.   
The pair bade goodbye to Gripshade and made their way up to Hogwarts, the plan may have to be sprung into action sooner than thought.


End file.
